Rob Oller commentary: Former NFL players rave about game's appeal

The NFL gets back to it this week, exactly seven months after Madonna turned the Super Bowl halftime show into a disjointed mix of ancient Egypt and ridiculous rapper mash-up.

Rob Oller, The Columbus Dispatch

The NFL gets back to it this week, exactly seven months after Madonna turned the Super Bowl halftime show into a disjointed mix of ancient Egypt and ridiculous rapper mash-up.

When the Material Girl finally relinquished the stage to the athletes, the New York Giants went True Blue on New England, defeating the Patriots 21-17.

It is hard to say which extravaganza — the game or the garish halftime performance — amazed us more because it was hard to distinguish between the two. The NFL is wildly popular in part because, like pop culture, it blends brilliant marketing with money-making mayhem.

Fantasy football and gambling help make the NFL No. 1 in America, but at its core, the league is successful because it appeals to our American interests. We Yanks fall for advertising shtick almost as hard as we crave action films. And what is the NFL if not a combination of the two?

Don’t take my word for it. Listen to fans who actually played the game. After years of crowd participation, former NFL players Paul Warfield, Shawn Springs and Donnie Nickey remain glued to the game as TV viewers and fans in the stands. They offer an insider’s perspective on what makes the NFL so popular entering its 92nd year of operation.

“It’s the violence and physical nature of the game,” said Nickey, a former Tennessee Titan special teams player who retired last season. “There is something primal about being more physical, faster and stronger ... it’s a law-of-the-jungle-type thing.”

Nickey, who played safety at Ohio State, said the brutality beckons him into the stadium — he plans to attend most of the Titans’ home games this season — but what holds his interest are the individual matchups. He encourages fans to focus on more than the big picture.

“The battles within the game,” he said. “There are a lot of individual games going on. The receivers are playing a different game than the linebackers.”

Springs retired in 2010 after 13 seasons in the NFL. Springs, a former Ohio State cornerback, watches games so closely he said he can tell within one or two series which team will win.

“I can’t watch a game normal,” Springs said. “I watch part of the first quarter and tell which guys are playing well and which are going to get beat. That’s why they don’t let (current) NFL guys bet.”

And why friends seek him out as a fantasy football consultant.

Attention to detail makes Springs a more discerning viewer than most of us, but like fans watching at home he also revels in the athleticism.

“I just think the athletes are amazing to watch,” he said, adding that he pays special attention to former teammates. “A guy like RGIII (Robert Griffin III) is a pleasure to watch. He can throw it a mile and is so fast and strong. Aaron Rodgers? The way he sidesteps and still throws it 50 yards on a rope? And I love seeing the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers smash each other into oblivion. I like seeing the big hits.”

Warfield is years removed from the field, having ended his 13-season Hall of Fame career in 1977.

But he watches as many games as he can, paying closest attention to Cleveland — where he began and ended his career — and Miami, where he won two Super Bowl rings.

What makes the NFL the perfect American sport?

“The NFL has done a great job of keeping its product at a high level of play,” Warfield said, alluding to organizational brilliance that includes marketing itself to the middle class. “And it’s a sport geared for viewing on television. When play stops periodically, for commercial messages, it doesn’t disrupt the flow of the game.”

Warfield also mentioned the officiating, which unlike some leagues (he singled out the NBA) does not offer preferential treatment to individual stars.

Ultimately, however, Warfield is like the rest of us.

“I like the big plays, the high action and the marvelous athletes,” he said.

I would add that the beer and pretzels don’t hurt, either.

Rob Oller is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.

roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

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